Infineon Technologies Ag

Gheorghe-Iulian Chivu

Costin Batrinu

Emanuel Stoicescu

Victor-Valentin Mocanu

Vasyl Mandziy

An ultrasonic touch sensor includes a touch structure comprising a touch surface configured to receive a touch; an ultrasonic transmitter configured to transmit at least one ultrasonic transmit wave toward the touch structure; an ultrasonic receiver configured to receive ultrasonic reflected waves produced by a plurality of reflections of the at least one ultrasonic transmit wave and generate a measurement signal representative of the ultrasonic reflected waves; and a measurement circuit configurable in a first operation mode corresponding to an air environment and a second operation mode corresponding to a wet environment. The measurement circuit is configured to calculate a rate of change of a plurality of samples of the measurement signal, perform a first comparison based on the rate of change and a rate of change threshold, and operate in the second operation mode based on the rate of change satisfying the rate of change threshold.

Ultrasonic touch sensor with water detection

An ultrasonic touch sensor includes a touch structure including a touch surface configured to receive a touch, a signal generator configured to generate an excitation, a capacitive ultrasonic transmitter configured to transmit an ultrasonic transmit wave toward the touch structure based on the excitation signal while the touch surface is submerged under the water, a capacitive ultrasonic receiver configured to receive an ultrasonic reflected wave produced by a reflection of the ultrasonic transmit wave at the touch structure while the touch surface is submerged under the water and generate a measurement signal representative of the ultrasonic reflected wave, and a measurement circuit configured to perform a comparison based on the measurement signal and a threshold, and determine whether a no-touch event or a touch event has occurred at the touch surface while the touch surface is submerged under the water based on whether the measurement signal satisfies the threshold.

Under water touch detection with ultrasonic sensors using capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs)

An ultrasonic touch sensor includes a touch structure configured to receive a touch; a transmitter configured to transmit an ultrasonic transmit wave toward the touch structure; a receiver configured to receive ultrasonic reflected waves produced by a plurality of reflections of the ultrasonic transmit wave and generate a measurement signal representative of the ultrasonic reflected waves; and a measurement circuit configured to: acquire a first plurality of digital samples of the measurement signal during a first observation window that corresponds to a first ultrasonic reflected wave produced by a reflection of the ultrasonic transmit wave at the touch interface, acquire a second plurality of digital samples of the measurement signal during a second observation window that is subsequent in time to the first observation window, and determine whether a no-touch event or a touch event has occurred based on the first and the second plurality of digital samples.

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Targoviste, Romania

Gheorghe-Iulian Chivu